Oh You Know, Just the Average Shift
by dvdvante
Summary: Sunny's your average 20 year old inkling-neck deep in the wild sport that is Turf War and its Ranked counterparts. When his boyfriend pitches the idea to him to get a job working for Grizzco, Sunny is both nervous and excited to start reaping the rewards of a hard-worked shift. If only he knew what he was really in for...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: There are links on my profile to the character's toyhouse profiles! (For reference heheh)**

"Salmon Run?"

Sunny put down his Crusty Seanwich, immediately regretting the move as some of its contents spilled out into the paper container that held it. Across from the hot metal table, Mako nodded.

In Inkopolis square, it was a typical Summer day: the sun was beaming down, warm but not unbearable, with the occupants of the city basking in its glow. There was the constant barrage of sounds, coming from music and cephalopods alike, cluttering the environment just as much as the bright shop colors and digital billboard ads. Mako and Sunny had taken up eating lunch together in the square, and it was there that the green squid had decided to pitch his idea for Sunny to, put it politely, get a job.

"Yes, Salmon Run. Or, well, the company is called Grizzco." Mako pointed subtly at the aforementioned building. "It's hard, sloppy work, but it pays well and your shifts tend to be about nine minutes long."

"Nine minutes?" Sunny gasped. "That's like, three turf wars!"

Mako lifted an elegant eyebrow. "Well, don't you think it's about time you started pulling your own weight around the house? Plus, you get paid in more than money. When you work hard enough they hand out tons of bonuses-exclusive gear, ability chunks...meal tickets."

Sunny's interest was already piqued at exclusive gear. So THAT was where that one Inkling had gotten her strange jacket. It was apparently so rare, his dealer Murch couldn't get his hands on it. He noticed Mako was looking down at Sunny's messy seanwhich, a hint of revulsion laced across his normally smug features. "I'm sure you're running out of tickets right about now, anyways."

Sunny pulled out his wallet and realized with dismay that he was down to the last two tickets Mako had given to him-and they were both drinks. He squirmed in his seat and Mako smiled. "See? I knew I was right."

"I guess I could try," Sunny murmured, nervously eyeing the dubious looking building tucked away in the dingiest corner of Inkopolis. "It just...it looks so dodgy. And dangerous. I've heard stories, y'know."

"What, more dangerous than blowing up your body all the time in turf war and ranked?" Mako ignored Sunny's exaggerated reaction to his question. He also chose not to acknowledge the stories, as it was a known fact that working at Grizzco could turn vicious and even deadly. Sunny's eyes grew laden with fear, as if he understood why Mako hadn't responded

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Mako said gently. "There are stories, yeah, but it's the high-ranking employees that always go to the most overpopulated spawning grounds."

"Spawning grounds," Sunny's nose wrinkled. "It even sounds nasty."

Mako thought quickly. Sunny, despite his protests, was clearly swayed by the prospect of exclusives and food- as he kept glancing at the building and thumbing his wallet. He gritted his teeth at the prospect of doing dirty work again, but it would be worth it to help his boyfriend and show that no amount of muck would stop him from helping Sunny.

"Here, if you go work a shift, I'll come with you." Mako offered. "We can work together in our team of four, and I can guide you all the way."

Sunny's face lit up. "Really?"

"Of course, darling." Mako smiled again. It wouldn't be so bad, knowing his eggy lover was right there beside him.

Sunny raised his rapidly cooling seanwich. "Then we start tomorrow! For money, for gear, for food!"

"I change my mind. I was totally high when I agreed to do this." Sunny deadpanned.

The two inklings stood at the entrance to Grizzco industries, dressed in casual clothing (as per Mako's insistence). Sunny had been quiet the entire morning, as if he were debating on going back on his decision to work. Evidently, doubt was winning out.

Mako was not having it. "Your eyes were white as snow when we were talking. Please don't change your mind now," he added softly. "I told you, I'd be right by your side."

Sunny squeezed his eyes shut and flexed his hands nervously. "You're right, I know. I'm just being a sissy-lopod. Let's go."

The two young men entered the establishment and Mako heard a quiet gasp from Sunny. The place screamed murder factory- they were surrounded by unlabeled and dirty containers piled on top of one another, and Sunny swore he saw one twitch. Eerie orange lamps cast a low, threatening glow onto a small circle in the room, leaving the rest of the area bathed in inky black shadows. TV screens flickered ominously and Sunny caught the birds-eye video of someone blasting their way through a group of what appeared to be zombies. He felt the blood drain from his face at the scene being depicted by another monitor- a huge drove of wriggling bodies targeted an inkling and swarmed over their body. He turned away.

Mako caught the look on Sunny's face and felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe Grizzco was too intense of a first job. He shouldn't have assumed what Sunny could handle just because of his performance in turf and ranked-after all they were in moderated, controlled environments. This was the wild through and through.

However, when Sunny turned back to Mako, his eyes were filled with determination. "Alright...what now?"

Mako was taken aback by how strong his voice came out, despite the fact that he was visibly shaking. "Sunny," he grasped the other inkling's hand. "I'm sorry. I know I put a lot of pressure on you. We can go someplace else."

Sunny shook his head almost violently. "No way! I'm not a coward. How would it look if my dainty boyfriend could handle this while I run for the hills?"

Mako made a conscious effort not to be offended. "Then, right now we wait."

They stood together in silence while Sunny tried to adjust his eyes to the dim room. The minutes felt like hours before a loud screeching sound of metal scraping metal destroyed the quiet, spooky atmosphere. When Sunny opened his eyes, he realized he'd flung himself onto Mako and had him in a backbreaking hold.

"Just...the boats…" Mako choked out.

Sunlight suddenly illuminated the area, and Sunny heard loud, clunking footsteps. The sound of voices carried through the tunnel where the light was beaming from, and soon four inklings emerged from it. Sunny was shocked-they looked like someone had placed light bulbs in their skulls, their eyes were so bright. Two girls in the group were grinning widely, holding hands and talking excitedly about something Sunny couldn't quite make out. He managed to catch the words "bosses" and "way past expectations", but the group of inklings brushed straight past he and Mako and out the door. The light didn't fade however, and Sunny leaped up when a crackling voice suddenly spoke from a walkie-talkie thing that was on top of a container.

"Right on time, kids. I got work for ya." It spoke.

"C'mon," Mako said, grasping Sunny's hand before he could take off. "We've gotta put on our uniforms."

Sunny let himself be pulled into the tunnel of light, numbly examining the rusty walls. There were streaks of water stains coming from the ceiling, and he noticed the sound of lapping water above him. Mako veered to the left suddenly and let go of Sunny's hand to pull out some hideous looking rubber clothes from a giant crate. He watched Mako slip them on with ease, and attempted to copy his actions (resulting in boots on the wrong feet and tangled overall straps). To his surprise, the slightly too-large overalls shrunk down to fit him. The two placed the surprisingly heavy work caps on their head and found themselves examining each other in their weird attire.

"Alright...you ready?" Mako asked.

"No." Sunny answered honestly.

Sunny jumped at the fizzy sensation that filled his brain and tingled in his hair. He whirled around to face Mako and found that his boyfriend was sporting bright pink twin tentacles as opposed to his normal green. He cursed himself for being so afraid, this was the same sensation he got every time he went into turf war and had to change to his team color.

His hand was held again, this time thick and rubbery from the outfit. Mako fixed him with a comforting gaze, but Sunny felt his heart sink further. He tightened his grip on Mako's hand, deciding that he couldn't back out now. Mako pulled him to another area- a significantly less dark but equally gloomy room with a single raggedy wooden table and two chairs. Upon the table was a stack of books, and upon approaching it he saw that they were each labeled "Training".

"Welp, sit on down," Mako pulled a chair up beside him. "Here's what we're to do."

They waited almost no time for their two teammates to appear. By then, Sunny had gone over the manual and what his directions were for each boss, with Mako quizzing him here and there.

The first of the pair was one of those exotic looking inklings, with a strange accent and complete lack of his eye-mask bridge. He stood meekly in the doorway of the manual room and said his name, but Sunny could barely comprehend over his skyrocketing anxiety. The other, an inkling girl, smiled gently at Sunny's expression and introduced herself - this time he caught the name: Maple.

"Let's go," the strange inkling beckoned them to the door. "We do not want to drag this out."

"Okay DJ, just give this guy a second." Maple obviously meant Sunny, and he felt a little affronted. Was his fear that obvious?

"He's fine," Mako spat, offended on behalf of his boyfriend. "I should hope you are equipped to deal with the spawn rates that come with my level."

Sunny laughed weakly. Equipped for the spawn rates? Was Mako high leveled at whatever this was?

"We'll be fine." Maple stuck her chin up at him and swiftly left the room, her twin tentacles slapping the doorframe ungraciously.

DJ shrugged and followed her, and Mako immediately after. Sunny trailed behind them, and he found they were heading deeper into the tunnel. They trekked on and on, the sound of water surrounding him before suddenly giving away to silence. The light at the end of the tunnel was blinding for a moment, and when his vision cleared Sunny found that the four of them had stepped out onto a boat.

The door they stepped out of slammed shut immediately, and Sunny flinched. Suddenly he felt hot under his hat. He prayed he wouldn't be sick.

The boat lurched forward and moved surprisingly quickly through the water. Mako elbowed him gently and pointed at where they were leaving-Inkopolis! The city skyline looked impressive, and Sunny realized that he never really took the time to enjoy it. He breathed in the cool air and made an effort to relax.

"You've got this," Mako murmured, kissing him on the cheek. Sunny blushed, knowing his skin was probably clammy.

In minutes the water was visibly changing. It went from a steely gray/blue to yellowish, then dark green. Leaning over the railings, Sunny noticed the boat was moving more slowly, as if the water was thickening too. He swallowed whatever was rising in his throat. It would do him no good to be ill now.

"Alright, we're here." Mako said calmly.

Sunny looked around the empty water. "Where?" Then he spotted a small island. It looked like something lived there at one point and had been abandoned. He realized with shock that the helm of a giant boat was protruding from it, broken down and rusty and probably full of ghosts. Sunny realized his knees were shaking, and saw Maple look over with annoyance.

"How are we supposed to get over there? Swim?" Sunny shot a horrified look at the sludgy green water.

"No, silly." Mako grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a launchpad. We're comin in this way."

The four shrank down into their squid forms and burst toward the island with a surge of power Sunny didn't even know he had. They landed quite roughly onto the ground, and Sunny took a moment to regain his senses. When he rose, he was shocked to find that he had a a tentatek splattershot in his hands. He turned his gaze over to Mako, who wielded a blaster. He saw Mako eye his weapon, then shrug irritably, confirming Sunny's suspicion that the weapon had been given to the both of them without their knowledge or choice.

Before he could open his mouth to speak, the three of his teammates raced forward, sloppily inking as much of the surface of the platform as they could. He saw that Maple carried a jet squelcher and DJ a pair of dualies, though he wasn't sure which kind. He jumped when a voice crackled into his ear- via a headset in the helmet, he assumed. A giant container burst from the unassuming steel platform in front of him and he shrieked.

"The egg basket is ready and waiting. Now go get me some golden eggs!"

A deafening horn sliced through the air and the voice crackled again. "You've got a boss salmonid incoming. DO YOUR JOB!"

The voice beeped off and Sunny looked around wildly, realizing he was still frozen in place. Dropping into squid form, he practically flew through the ink towards where he could sense Mako was.

What he saw almost made him piss his pants. A towering structure loomed over Mako, clanking and hissing as the pile of scrap and pans sat on top of an open flame. He heard Mako's distinct "This Way!" crackle through his ear set and he saw DJ race over from across the map to assist.

The creature inside the structure fixed its eyes on Sunny, and before he could react, a steaming ray of what could only be described as snotty sludge burt from its mouth and shot straight through the inkling's body. He screamed, but no noise came out as his insides filled with the boiling hot liquid. He sank down to squid form and charged blindly in a random direction to pull himself out of the blast- right off the edge of the boat. He landed clumsily onto the hard sand and rock below, crashing down towards the shore. When he looked up, he he found that the laser had vanished and heard a minor explosion.

He wasn't safe, however. Another deafening horn filled the air and swarm of creatures emerged from the water right in front of Sunny, wielding frying pans and leaving slimy green trails in their wake. He jumped to his feet and took off running, still stinging from the muck that clung to his uniform. The creatures chased him down with precision, mouths agape and revealing rows of dirty, uneven teeth. He realized with horror that he had run himself into a corner, as the edge of the boat was surrounded entirely by water.

CLANG

White spots filled Sunny's vision as a creature smashed its frying pan straight against his head, flinging him into the depths of the water. He opened his mouth to scream, but his mouth filled with sludge and he could only burble helplessly as his body disintegrated.

TBC IN CHAPTER 2


	2. Chapter 2

Sunny recognized the sensation of being splatted immediately. He felt airy and small, shrunken all the way down to the spirit that resided in his body. Looking around at the dingy purple blackness he occupied, he realized he was in the void; an area he passed through frequently on his way to spawn. '_Ouch_…' he cried pitifully, floating through the darkness. Then fear struck him like lightning-

_There's no spawn on this island,_ Sunny realized. _I can't respawn! I'm dead! I'm dead!_

The sheer panic that gripped his soul brought forth a rush of blinding colors and deafening sound. He recognized the horn that signified another mob of fish creatures and realized he was conscious, but bodiless, at the shore where he'd disintegrated. His soul now inhabited the floatie that came with his uniform, with just enough ink pooled inside to regain his mind but unable to put together another body. He sensed his teammates struggling off somewhere on the opposite end of the island, with the stinky green slime covering most of the ground. Horrific, fleshy sounds of splatting approached him and he feared the monsters were returning to finish him and his floatie off.

"Help!" Sunny called, the same way he'd call out after being splatted in turf war. "Help!"

He found that he could waddle across the slime easily in this inner tube, though he didn't get far before a glob of pink ink-_Mako's blaster!_\- burst through the crowd of fish and filled Sunny with renewed energy. He felt his soul collecting the ink Mako had given him and in seconds Sunny was standing, reformed and in uniform, as if nothing had happened.

"Mako!" he cheered, rushing over to where he'd seen the ink come from. But Mako was blocked off by a swarm of fish, and Sunny realized with panic that his boyfriend was being swarmed the same way the other worker had been when he was watching them on the monitor.

"Shoot them!" He heard Mako yell. "They're weak to our ink. You have to shoot them!"

Sunny pulled his tentatek out from where it had been stored on his person and began shooting with wild abandon. To his excitement, the fish were being coated and exploding in his own ink, cleaning up the green slime that permeated the area and making movement much easier. Mako joined in with him, blasting creatures with grim accuracy.

Suddenly Mako grabbed his hand and pulled him in the gap separating two halves of the partially sunken boat, and Sunny looked up to see something looking like a car crossing the grate over their heads. He paled, but couldn't look long as Mako suddenly stopped, making them crash awkwardly.

"Grab these eggs and follow me." Mako hissed.

Sunny grabbed hold of a giant, gold egg and followed Mako to a platform that rose when its fan was shot with ink. With a flicker of pride, he deposited his first egg.

Maple and DJ were nowhere to be seen, but Sunny knew they were off somewhere, probably fighting more monsters. He followed Mako back off the platform, shooting uniquely colored fish that grabbed at the surviving golden eggs, and raced back up to the basket to drop them off. The indicator attached to the basket turned green, and Sunny realized that they had met their egg requirement. Relief washed over him and closed his eyes peacefully, placing a hand against the basket to balance himself.

"OOF!" Panic seized his insides as something crashed violently into his backside, throwing him past Mako onto the edge of the ship. He turned to find the car from before barreling towards him, churning up thick waves of sludge. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for impact-

A loud screeching sound forced him to open his eyes and he was greeted by the tail-end of the vehicle. Looking past it, he saw how Mako assaulted its windshield with blasts of ink, dipping in and out of ink to preserve his low tank. After one last direct blast, the car lurched and groaned before breaking down violently, sparks and smoke billowing from the creature's contraption.

_You have to shoot them!_ Mako's advice rang in his ears, bringing Sunny back onto his feet and aiming at the flailing fin. However as he prepared to pull the trigger, he felt a flash of pity, knowing that the fish was trapped and helpless to move. His grip weakened.

Something else shoved him out the way, splattering enemy sludge across his uniform. He whipped his tentatek back out to shoot it, but it wasn't a slimy creature.

"Poseidon's sake, just kill it already!" He heard Maple's voice and saw her seconds afterward, standing where he had been and showering the trapped fish with bullets. The car exploded, and three shining gold eggs floated down onto the space it inhabited moments ago. Sunny briefly wondered if the creatures could respawn while Mako and Maple picked up one each, DJ following swiftly behind them.

"Time's running out, we can leave soon. But you need to help us right now," Mako kneeled next to Sunny, and he figured Mako hadn't seen their teammate push him down. Mako pointed a gloved hand toward the area past the basket where Maple and DJ were pushing through creatures sliding across the grates and Sunny gaped-the area was swarming with creatures, bosses were continuing to pile onto the shore and up the pathways, resulting in an almost never ending warning siren. "If we all get splatted, no one will revive us! We'll be completely wiped!"

The next minute was the most intense minute Sunny had ever experienced in his life. Bosses crawled from the depths at an alarming rate, drenching the map in green slime. Sunny could barely turn around before being confronted by a fish, and was nearly crushed multiple times by the jaws of what he vaguely recognized as the steel eel.

By the time the clock had run out, Sunny was shaking with exhaustion. He watched numbly from the ship helm as the fish that were swarming them seconds ago turned their backs and waded back to the murky green water, with his teammates chasing them down. Suddenly his body contorted and he was in squid form-super jumping against his will back onto the spawn-point imitation painted onto the ground.

He stood up blearily, a new weapon in hand and no clue of what was happening. He turned to Mako who, as he had promised, was sticking by Sunny's side.

"Why's our team turfing?" Sunny asked as he watched DJ and Maple take off. "All the fish turned and left."

Mako shook his head sadly and gripped Sunny's hand. "Two more shifts."

The warning horn blared but Sunny didn't register it, as his vision was darkening and he collapsed.

Sunny stepped out the front gates of Grizzo, shaken but otherwise uninjured. The other two shifts had gone swimmingly, and despite Sunny's frequent deaths and awkward collisions with his teammates, Mako had done as he promised and stayed by his side until they heard the final victory organ. While he had been regaining his senses, he could only watch with awe as Mako leapt around, flinging bombs that sprayed bright, cheerful droplets all over the group and Maple shot beam after beam of lasers in the sky with her stingray.

The sun was still beaming outside and Sunny realized that they had really only been gone a little under half an hour. The threatening music bumped from the building, and Sunny realized with dismay that he already lost Maple and DJ in the crowd of the Square.

"SO….I guess you did alright," Mako nudged Sunny gently with his elbow, snapping him out of his thoughts. The eggy squid's features twisted into a pained grin and Mako burst out laughing. "I mean it!"

Sunny exchanged his forced grin for a real one, and felt his body relax. "That means a lot comin' from you, Mako."

"Oh? Then if I'm being entirely honest, you did pretty OKAY….for a first-timer." Mako nodded to himself before turning to look at Sunny again. "You displayed some exceptional noobishness that far exceeded my expectations, which were those I'd give a baby."

Sunny blinked prettily at him. "Some stellar mediocrity? Would you say my skills at being barely decent surpass even yours? I'm swooning Mako, you may as well take me in this alley."

"Shut up," Mako laughed, angling his head so that his tentacle crossed his face, masking the blush forming on his cheeks. "Now come here and check out all the prizes we earned."

The two inklings joined hands and stepped up to the bonus counter, with Sunny deciding that he ought to try some more shifts on his own. He'd show Mako just how much of a team player he could be...!

END


End file.
